Ok I have narrowed my search down to these 2 cameras. Price wise they are close in range. (with the fuji I have to buy all new cards, Minolta uses my current cards)

Minolta has the anti shake mode. Is this a big thing? Does it really make a huge difference? I do have a very steady hand and rarely with my current digital do I have blurred picture and it is usually because I didn't use the proper setting. Or does this workstricklyfor the moving object? IE diving, running etc..... On occassions I have had a blurred picture with that type of activity.

The zoom is better on the Minolta but I think both zooms will be fine for my needs.

The 4 vs 5 meg pix. isn't of concern. I never blow things up larger than an 8x10 and that is rare. Also the Minolta has the ability to use an external flash. Is that important?

I take pictures of my kids, school funtions, currently all of their sports are outside so lighting hasn't been a huge problem. They do different stage activities for school but that is occassionally. But for the future they may change directions and do things indoors....

My Daughter is on a dive team so I need a fast camera to capture her dives. Son plays baseball.

My current camera is less than 2 years old. I really don't want to go through this again in a year or so. I want a camera I can be happy with for a few years. Thanks for any input.

IS only cancels out small camera movement, which shows up when taking pics at high magnification or slower shutter speeds. IS has nothing to do with movement of the subject.

IS does not help in every situation. As long as you have the shutter speed you need, you don't need IS. However, IS will allow you to shoot at shutter speeds lower than what you could normally do without IS. There has been much discussion on this board about IS, so try to take the time to read a few of those threads.

If you want IS, then you should also consider the Panasonic FZ series. Theyseem to be the most popular mega-zoom w/IS right now, mostly because they have the fastest lenses of any mega-zoom fixed-lens camera. I cannot think of any mega-zoom (10x or above) with a lens faster than that of the FZ3/15/20.

You do not need a hotshoe in order to add an accessory flash. It just makes it a bit easier to do so...

Try to get a catalog from the B&amp;H company. They produce a great color catalog where you can find this kind of thing, and once you see the pics of what I'm talking about, the light will come on in your head.

One way to add a flash is to get what is known as an "L" bracket, which is an L-shaped metal strip that mounts to the tripod mount at the bottom of the camera, and has a hotshoe on the other end to which you mount a slave flash. The upright portion of the bracket also gives you a handle with which to hold the setup as well.

You can also mount a slave flash on it's own little tripod, which will give you the flexibility of moving the flash away from the camera and pointing this extra flash in a different direction, such as when you want to light up the backround.